About Me

The following "About Me" biography is a first-hand life story account that gives essential background information on the artist, his art, and the progression of his work through the lifetime these pieces span. It also highlights the influences of people who not only shaped his life but his viewpoint and, therefore, his expression. 

I was born in Isleworth, Middlesex, on the outskirts of London on February 16th in 1965 along with my twin sister, Dianne. We were premature twins weighing less than 2 lbs and I was given the birth name of Simon Peter Willis. According to my birth mother, Jacqueline Willis, who I later met when I was in my thirties, my birth father hung himself the day I was born and my sister and I were taken from our birth mother and put into foster care, where we were later put up for adoption. Apparently, our birth father was also a twin with a brother.

Eventually, we were adopted by a couple, who were in their early 50s, and lived in a nice house in Hampton, Middlesex. My father was called William F.C. Deal, so I was then given the name Ian Deal. We always knew we were adopted as our father never hid it from us. Much of our early childhood I remember as being happy and my father, who was the kindest and most gentle soul you could ever meet, had a massive influence over the person I feel I have become. He believed in old-fashioned values of honesty and patience, something that he would have needed as I grew into a very troubled, wayward teen.

As the years went by, our adoptive mother grew quite resentful. She was not able to have children of her own and to suddenly be lumbered with twins at her time of life, I feel, became too much for her and our family life became quite turbulent as we grew towards teenhood. Our father worked two jobs and weekends, so he was preoccupied in providing a stable and fruitful life for all of us and as such, our adoptive mother was given the role of being a stay-at-home mother, which must have been a daunting task at her time of life. Eventually, it became too much and our parents separated by the time we were 15. Consequently, my sister went to live with her boyfriend and I was left alone in the house with my father paying the bills while he lived elsewhere with failing health.

I missed the last years of my education as I was a very intellectual child and had received a private education at Hampton Grammar School before it became too expensive for my father, and I then attended a comprehensive school, where I became bored. Despite achieving over 90% in most subjects when we took the mock O-level exams, the school refused to let me sit the exams a year early so my father had the attitude of if they are not going to teach you or let you achieve there is no point in going to school. Subsequently, I left school with no qualifications.

Over the next few years my father's health grew worse and he suffered five strokes in total, the last of which resulted in a week long coma, before he finally passed away. We were at his hospital bedside when this happened. My sister, who was the more sensible and level-headed, had a good job and had secured her own accommodation, where we lived together. At the time of our father's passing, when we returned home, we arrived back to find out that her boyfriend had decided to burglarize her possessions. I immediately got in her car to go and confront him, which resulted in a car accident where I broke my leg; something that put me on crutches for seven years.

The upside to this was that I was considered invalid due to the amount of time that I was unable to work—due to insurance reasons—so I was given housing by the local council office where I lived alone for the next 20-plus years. This period was where my life truly began as I was forced to confront my purpose in life, finding out who I was and what direction I wanted my life to take. In this time I lived without a phone, without a car and without a television. I settled for a life of peace with just music and my own thoughts to guide me. It was a long period of soul searching and where my creative art began, initially through poetry. I also extensively looked into the areas of life which, to me, didn't add up. Much of which I was taught at school. I began a journey of metaphysical inquiry.

One of the first things I did, to find out the measure of who I was, was to take the MENSA test, which I surprisingly passed. Despite being intellectual I left school as a very confused and naive person. I thought that everyone had the same minds and thought process, but after being called "mad" a thousand times I sat the test to see if other people had a point. Once I knew I had a very high IQ, I found more confidence in myself and realized that I was not mad, I just saw things differently to others.

The seven years I spent before my leg mended turned out to be a godsend as I had all the time in the world to study and reason with myself, God and the universal purpose that was evading me. I had no idea at that time what I wanted to do for employment, even when I was able to return to work and I was in my early 30s, but eventually I realized that going into childcare was where my passion and true calling lay. At this time England offered free adult education and I made the most of this gaining a plethora of qualifications, to degree level, in "Childcare, Learning & Development" and "Playcare," (including special Needs) and still work in Playcare to this very day; albeit in a different country. Not forgetting a Swedish course on using the outdoors as an environment to address behavioral issues in learning. This course proved doubly beneficial as I learnt how to make charcoal, which I sometimes use for sketching. I eventually added teaching Math and English in the curriculum in case I wanted to sidestep into becoming an early years teacher; something I decided not to pursue due to my own personal challenges of not being able to teach things that I didn't believe were totally proven or true. Education has an interesting philosophy of papering over the cracks just to make our current understanding 'fit' and anything that seems anomalous, or contradictory in science and history - in particular - has been hidden away in a cupboard marked 'odd parts'. 

As well as realizing my calling towards a career in childcare I also took advantage and gained diplomas and many other certifications across a range of subjects such as "Teaching Information Technology," "Teaching Sports," "Double-Entry Bookkeeping" and "Journalism." The latter being accompanied by an "A" (Advanced) level in "Art & Photography." It seems as soon as I mastered one subject I would move on to where my interests took me next.

At this point in my journey of self-discovery, I used my knowledge of Information Technology and computers, alongside my soul searching within the art of poetry, to become a "Small Press Publisher" producing literary magazines. I began with a poetry magazine called The Word which focused on "romantic" and mainly lyrical forms. My next magazine production was called A Bard Hair Day, which featured all forms of general poetry and again this was produced quarterly. Not satisfied with producing these I then took publishing one step further and produced a larger A4 size format magazine called ImageNation. This featured short stories and articles alongside images that complimented the writing. This was later accompanied by another small format poetry magazine called The Poet Tree. Eventually I settled with producing yet another contemporary poetry magazine called Aspire. Aspire ran for 13 volumes. Alongside these magazines I produced a celestial poetry 4-part project called Blue Moon Rising, which dealt with spiritual and metaphysical themes with another intended 4-part project focusing on all aspects of love titled 'Love Me Knots'. 

As a publisher who not only wanted to feature poets and poetry from the English poetry scene, I further encouraged the prolificacy of what was at this point in time, a dwindling industry, by holding annual poetry competitions, with the first prize generally being £250. 

On one occasion, I held a separate competition where the conditions of entry were that the poem had to in some way represent Lewis Carrol's imaginative viewpoint. The prize was a commissioned piece of art produced by Rosie Short, from a line taken from the winning poem. see below

All in all, I was engaged in the world of poetry and publishing for 10 years.

During these years of poetry not only did I realize how much poetry helped me reason through things but I was blessed to come across a very influential lady called Pamela Constantine. As well as having the pleasure of reading and publishing her beautiful poetry, we became very good friends. Here is what AI mentions about this beautiful lady:

"Pamela Constantine is a poet, author, and spiritual teacher based in Upminster, Essex, England. She is particularly known for her work bridging the gap between creative expression (poetry and prose) and spiritual awakening. For over 36 years, she founded and led the Solar Lodge (also known as the Lodge of World Peace and Brotherhood), an Essex-based center that served as a hub for spiritual seekers and students from around the world."

During this time, I must have produced over 30 different poetry collections of Pamela's work and published several magazines on her behalf. Not only was I blessed with her close friendship but I was privileged to having free access to all her beautiful works. This has no doubt been the biggest influence on me as an artist, despite the many turbulent and life-shaping events I have endured. To that end, I would like to insert a poem of hers so that people can see what a beautiful soul this lady had, and as a tribute to her and how she helped shape the works of mine on this website.

WELL OF AWAKENING

I have traveled through the woods of life

To that one spring which flows to heal and bless;

Now I have filled my pitcher at the well

And I have drunk of crystal consciousness.

I see the world with newly nourished soul,

The Mother’s world in pure and perfect youth;

And I must travel through the woods once more

With pitcher full, to share the dazzling truth.

Pamela Constantine

I chose this particular poem as it represents my own journey from its beginning to where I feel I am at now. I have had many other eventful moments in my life and many good friendships which no doubt have helped to shape me. I was blessed with having many true, best friends, despite being a troubled soul. Geoff Dale, who I grew up with as a child, who now lives in Australia. Mark Brown who I shared my teenage years with. Simon Medford who I met through my time employed as a courier and Tony West, who I shared many years with at Kiss 100 radio station and his being a DJ at nightclubs in and around London. Not forgetting Kieran Notter who shared many years of my life.

One such other major influence was a neighbor I spent time with. His name was Sid and he was an elderly war veteran in England. We often shared cups of tea and I would drink mine listening to him regale his war years. One day when I woke early, I met him in the newsagents shop across the road from where we lived and I returned to his home with him for our usual tea and conversation. Sid was always upbeat and the most gracious host. I hadn't seen him for a while leading up to this occasion and while he was making the tea he mentioned not feeling himself. Sid, despite his happy-go-lucky demeanor, was a typical old Englishman in that he drank lots of tea and smoked lots of cigarettes—a true product of his generation.

This morning he remarked that he hadn't had a cigarette for days as he hadn't been feeling well. Sid was in his 70s. I did not know what to say but said I would be happy to make the tea for him. He was having none of that and made the tea and came and sat down. He said he had been waiting to catch up with me while he proceeded to drink his tea. I thought nothing of the remark at the time. Once he finished his tea he extinguished his cigarette and then dropped instantaneously dead, right in front of me. It was like a switch had been pressed to "off." I have been around more than a couple of people who have passed and been there as they passed but this was soul-shatteringly different. No pain, no build up, no signs or warning, just here one second—gone the next. It took me a long time to wrap my thoughts around this incident.

There are many incidents in my life such as the ones that I have mentioned that would have an influence on me, but in order to keep this biography as short as possible, I have only included the major and most obvious ones. Which brings me to the final and possibly the biggest, my wife.

Our story began when my wife was 14 years of age. She came to be in England at that point in her life as her father was in the American Navy, having come from Geraldine, Montana, where his family had a farm; a homestead. He was stationed in England for four years and during this time, we met. She was my first girlfriend. I had been educated at an all-boy's school so had not had much contact with the fairer sex during my early teens. I also fell in love with her mother, who became my first real, loving mother. A lady I will always refer to as my mum and she, in turn, called me the child of her heart.

My birth mother and my adoptive mother never really meant anything to me, so not only did I experience my first real girlfriend, I also had occasion to experience the kind loving heart of a real mother for the first time. I was 16 at that time and then four years later they left as her father was deployed back to America. We then spent the next 29 years apart—which was essential as I needed to find myself. It was not long after this parting that I broke my leg.

Our story continued when we were able to reunite thanks to the one true benefit of "Facebook." Once we reconnected we spent a few months speaking and reminiscing before we both realized what we had lost all those years ago. My wife then got on a plane and came to live with me in London. We got married in Montana and then spent the next few years living at my home in London, coming every year thereafter, to Montana, to visit with her parents. It was after around the third visit that we decided to give up our life in England to be closer to her family. It meant that I had to leave my twin sister behind, and her twin girls, my beautiful nieces, but it was something I felt was right and after 15 years, of living here, we are still happy living in Great Falls, Montana.

Mother has now passed but it also gave me the chance to meet another man who has helped shape and influence me, my wife's father, Ken. Being military he has helped me calm my inner rage and guided me to be more disciplined and to have better boundaries. After all, my life has been one wild, rollercoaster of tumultuous events. Some discipline was also badly needed.

So now, at the end of this soul and art shaping biography I will end with the first song that I wrote as a tribute to my wife when we shared our 15th wedding anniversary in November of 2025. We got married on our mother's birthday!

We shall not cease from exploration

And the end of all our exploring

Will be to arrive where we started

And know the place for the first time.’   

T. S. Eliot